SLEDGE 



5406 



SLIME MOLDS 



Europe, were greatly oppressed, and their prog- 

 ress toward freedom and self-government is one 

 of the notable movements of recent history. 

 The Bulgarians, Serbians and Montenegrins, for 

 instance, have been freed from Turkish op- 

 pression, and the Russians have overthrown 

 one of the most despotic governments known 

 in history. 



Related Subjects. For details concerning the 



various Slav peoples, consult, in these volumes, 

 the following articles: 



Austria-Hungary Czecho-Slovakia 



(racial map) Jugo-Slavia 



Balkan Peninsula Montenegro 



Bosnia Poland 



Bulgaria Russia 



Croatia and Slavonia Serbia 



Czech Slovaks 



SLEDGE, slej, a means of conveyance, in 

 which the body is mounted on runners instead 

 of wheels, and so of effective use only when the 

 ground is covered with snow. When crudely 

 made, they are called sledges, or sleds, as the 

 dog sledge of the Eskimos, the reindeer sledges 

 of Lapland, or the bobsleds of America. With 

 a body fashioned artistically they are known as 

 sleighs all over the world where there is snow- 

 fall. In the United States and Canada light 

 and graceful sleighs are also known as cutters. 



SLEEP, the state during which the nervous 

 system renews the energy expended during the 

 waking hours. The beneficent effects of sleep 

 are known to every one, and no one will say 

 that this rest period of tired humanity is over- 

 praised by Shakespeare in his familiar lines 

 from Macbeth: 



the innocent sleep, 



Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care, 

 The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, 

 Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, 

 Chief nourisher in life's feast. 



Coleridge, too, in The Ancient Manner, says 

 of sleep that 



it is a gentle thing, 



Beloved from pole to pole. 



Throughout the active hours of the day en- 

 ergy is used up faster than it is stored and the 

 tissues are worn faster than cells are formed 

 to repair them; therefore both the mind and 

 body need periods of rest. The most com- 

 plete rest is found in sleep. The conscious 

 activities of the mind cease, the heart beats 

 more slowly, the respiratory movements are 

 less frequent and the muscles are relaxed. An 

 infant sleeps most of the time; a young child 

 needs twelve hours of sleep out of the twenty- 

 four, while eight hours is ordinarily sufficient 



for the adult. Sleep at night is more refresh- 

 ing than that in the daytime. It is deepest 

 during the second hour after going to sleep, 

 and the nervous system receives a greater 

 shock if the sleeper is awakened during this 

 hour than if at any other time. Insomnia, or 

 chronic sleeplessness, is a distressing ailment 

 which should never be* neglected. 



Sleeping Porches. The lungs call for pure 

 air, and sleep is most refreshing when the 

 sleeper is supplied with an abundance of pure 

 air. Tuberculosis and other lung diseases are 

 frequently cured by sleeping in the open air. 

 The most sanitary of modern dwellings are 

 provided with sleeping porches which are so 

 located as to seclude the occupants from view, 

 and so protected with screens as to keep out 

 flies and mosquitoes. With proper protection 

 in the way of bedding and night robes, these 

 porches may be occupied throughout the year. 



Consult Powell's Art of Natural Sleep; Bruce's 

 Sleep and Sleeplessness. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Baby Heating and Ventilation, 



Dreams subtitle The Venti- 



Insomnia lating Problem 



Somnambulism 



SLEEP 'ING SICK 'NESS, a fatal disease 

 occurring in the equatorial districts of Africa, 

 so called because in the last stages the victim 

 passes into a state of heavy drowsiness which 

 terminates in coma and death. The disease is 

 caused by a minute animal parasite, the car- 

 rier of which is the tsetse fly. The early symp- 

 toms are irregular fever, headache, inability to 

 sleep and weakness. The glands all over the 

 body are enlarged, and a red eruption appears 

 on the skin. As the disease progresses the vic- 

 tim grows continually weaker, and a desire for 

 sleep comes upon him, increasing until he can 

 with difficulty be aroused. There are trem- 

 blings of the hand and tongue which, toward 

 the last, develop into convulsions. Every pa- 

 tient sleeps himself to death, for there is no 

 cure. Careful nursing has been known to 

 postpone the later symptoms. The duration of 

 the disease varies with individuals; a victim 

 may live for several years. 



SLEEP WALKING. See SOMNAMBULISM. 



SLIDELL, slidel', JOHN (1793-1871). See 

 MASON AND SLIDELL. 



SLIME MOLDS, minute plants of very sim- 

 ple structure which are found upon decaying 

 wood and sometimes on soil containing a large 

 proportion of humus. These molds are of spe- 



